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My initial foray into video was due to my being exposed to extensive
television advertising while working at a small advertising agency. I
had worked for several years starting with my first job as a graphic
artist while still in high school. In high school, I tried to impress
the girls with my drawings -- they would often ask me to do my hot-rod
car drawings for them. My teachers, on the other hand, would
"confiscate" my notebook of drawings if they caught me drawing in class.
After high school, then commercial art school, and several years of
employment in the advertising graphics field, I decided to go to
business school to study marketing. During my senior year, I chose to
pursue an internship at a small advertising agency. This Clio award
winning agency had about 80% of its billings in broadcast television.
Its client list included a local, major market television station. It
also had a national account that was in the process of launching its
institutional refrigerated salad dressings, dips and sauces to the
retail market. It also handled regional advertising for a major fast
food account. There were other broadcast oriented accounts as well
including a leading international hotel. The internship led to a full-time job.
When you work at a small advertising agency you get to wear a lot of
hats. Due to my background and my marketing and computer science
studies (and my "babe magnet" charm and good looks), I was given the
opportunity to get involved in virtually every aspect of the agency.
This included research, account planning, creative, media and account
services. I gained experience going out on video shoots and post
production sessions at various recording studios and post production
houses. Our television station client owned one of the top post houses
in the Atlanta market at the time. We used their remote truck to shoot
commercials and videos on location, and their edit suite for post
production.
Since I had majored in marketing with a focus on computer science, I
was asked to evaluate and recommend one of several turnkey computer
systems on the market at the time for media planning and buying. This
led to my becoming the
"computer guru" for the agency as my coworkers (along with the "agency
principals") suffered from rampant "computer phobia." My all-nighters
in the university's computer lab had cured me of that. Nevertheless, I
tried not to get too wrapped up in the technical aspects of computers
-- a computer is, after all, only a tool. As a carpenter uses a hammer
to help build a house, I use a computer to help create advertising. The
creation of advertising, including television "spots" and promotional
videos, involves many disciplines. I will elaborate on this in upcoming
blogs.